AMD unveils quad-core Spider PC gaming platform

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 11/19/2007

Microprocessor contender Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has unveiled its “Spider” PC gaming platform that contains what the company says is the first true quad-core processor that supports scalable graphics – the AMD Phenom. Spider also contains the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series graphics processors containing Microsoft DirectX 10.1 support, AMD 7-Series chipsets with CrossFireX and AMD OverDrive software.

In September, after four years of tantalizing tidbits about its K10 microarchitecture, AMD released its first implementation, in the form of quad-core dual- and quad-socket CPUs for workstations and servers. An in-depth technical analysis of AMD’s quad-core Opteron versus Intel’s competitive Xeon offerings revealed some surprises and did not dispel concerns about AMD’s long-term survival.

AMD's main rival Intel Corp. beat it to market with its Xeon quad-core processors.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based microprocessor company reiterated that Spider is a step on the path to “Accelerated Computing,” the company’s vision for platform-level acceleration through co-processing.

Dirk Meyer, AMD president and COO noted in a statement, “The AMD Spider platform embodies our approach to platform-level innovation and delivers a highly-advanced, feature-rich enthusiast computing experience. Our commitment to energy-efficient design and manufacturing excellence drives an unprecedented performance-per-watt at an amazing price point, putting enthusiast-class platforms in reach for more users than ever before.”

Spider is aimed at multi-GPU enthusiasts (i.e. gamers) with inclusion of the ATI CrossFireX technology, which combines the 55 nm ATI Radeon HD 3800 series of graphics processors and the increased system bandwidth of PCI Express Generation 2.0 and HyperTransport 3.0 technology – capable of scaling to three or four graphics processors for a true gaming supercomputer, AMD said.

AMD is also touting support for next-generation HD content with HyperTransport 3.0 technology to allow the processors in Spider to access up to 14.4 GB/second of high bandwidth I/O. When combined with the additional bandwidth of AMD PCI Express 2.0 chipsets and graphics processors, AMD said Spider allows maximum bandwidth to support smooth 1080P video playback, enhanced multi-GPU and high-speed disk and network interfaces. The company reminded that its processors are designed to be compatible with future 65 and 45 nm AMD Phenom processors for achieving performance gains.

Further, AMD said the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series allows HD entertainment on Spider platforms where image quality and power-efficient playback are made possible through the ATI Avivo HD video engine and the Unified Video Decoder (UVD), the later of which is meant to ensure platform efficiency and image quality in HD-DVD and Blu-ray decoding for both H.264 and VC-1 specifications. Big screen gaming and entertainment leverages HDMI connectivity with integrated HDCP and audio for HDMI video.

In terms of scalability, AMD explained that Spider allows multiple upgrade options to increase performance and boost compatibility with configurations that can deliver an estimated two teraflops of desktop processing power by using four graphics processors. The multi-core design of AMD Phenom quad-core processors, based on Direct Connect Architecture, contain an integrated memory controller designed to support memory speeds up to DDR2 1066, 128-bit floating point units and AMD’s Balanced Smart Cache for access to memory, with a shared L3 cache.

Further, AMD noted that its 7-Series chipsets contain the latest ATI CrossFireX technology, what the company says is a new class of scalable multi-GPU performance, supporting three or four ATI Radeon HD 3800 series graphics processors for upgradeability and DirectX 10.1.

AMD 7-Series chipsets support up to four graphics processors and 42 PCI Express lanes as well as the company’s OverDrive software, the Windows operating system-based performance tuning utility. In addition, AMD AutoXpress settings are meant to increase system performance when combined with enthusiast memory modules, ATI Radeon graphics, as well as AMD Phenom quad-core processors.

For energy efficiency, AMD believes Spider platforms provide industry-leading platform performance-per-watt, by combining energy-efficient AMD Phenom quad-core processors for an improved computing experience, low power 65 nm AMD 7-Series chipsets, and low-power, high-performance 55 nm ATI Radeon HD 3800 graphics.

In a measurement of real-world processor power consumption, AMD said it surveyed consumer and commercial users to understand usage patterns, measured power consumption for these usage patterns and believes its Phenom processors with Cool’n’Quiet 2.0 technology rated at 95 watts TDP can consume an average power of 32 watts for consumers and 29 watts for commercial users.

The AMD 7-Series chipsets were manufactured on 65 nm process technology.

AMD Phenom processors 9600 (2.3GHz) and 9500 (2.2GHz) are now available for $283 and $251 respectively in 1,000-unit pricing. The ATI Radeon HD 3850 with 256MB of GDDR3 memory begins at $179 and the ATI Radeon HD 3870 with 512MB GDDR4 memory from $219.

The Spider platform implementation:


Source: AMD


The AMD Phenom:



Source: AMD


Concurrently, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced today that its highest-speed DDR2 main memory and its fastest graphics memory have been designed to work with AMD’s Phenom processors and ATI Radeon HD 3800 series of graphics processing units (GPUs) for desktop PCs.

Samsung said it worked closely with AMD to fine-tune some of its best high-end memory chips to work well with AMD’s new processors, which Samsung anticipates will have a substantial impact on the marketplace.

Samsung said its 512 megabit DRAM, capable of 1066 million data transfers per second, is its fastest DDR2 chip and is available in densities up to 1 gigabyte per module.

AMD commented that Samsung’s GDDR4 and GDDR3 graphics memory can provide a significant performance boost for systems that use the ATI Radeon HD GPUs.

Samsung’s fastest memory chip – the GDDR4 1.2 Ghz has been designed to be fully-compatible with AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 3870 GPU, which transfer data at 72 gigabits per second, while consuming less power than current ATI graphics processors.

Also, Samsung’s 900 Mhz GDDR3 is engineered to work with the ATI Radeon HD 3850 GPU and is offered in a 16Mx32 configuration, while the 900 Mhz GDDR3 is available in an 8Mx32 configuration. 

Samsung‘s 1.2 Ghz GDDR4 and 900 Mhz GDDR3 are now in mass production. Samsung’s DDR2-1066 DRAM is planned to be mass produced beginning at the end of the year. 


For commentary on this news, see "AMD releases Spider, Intel gets the bug spray."